September Ride
by meixel
Summary: Candy and Joe talk on the ride home one lazy September day.   Just why did Joe decide not to follow his oldest brother's footsteps and go to college?


**A/N: This is my first Bonanza submission. I was writing dialogue for another story set in the beautiful Tahoe area and this scene popped in my head. A lifelong fan of Bonanza, I hope I did justice to Joe and Candy.**

**I don't own any characters, etc. here. Just write for fun and skill development. Reviews and feedback are welcome. Thanks!**

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The tall, lush meadow grass flowed with the warm wind. September was in full swing, but today was warm and balmy, much like early June. Joe and Candy rode at a leisurely pace back to the Ponderosa after spending a few relaxing days fishing and restocking the line shacks. It had been a long and particularly hot summer. The last few days seemed to be a good way to wind down from the season's last cattle drive. Not only could they rest, but they could also help prepare the shacks for the approaching winter.

They had several hours left on their ride, but they were in no particular hurry. Each man seemed lost in his own thoughts. Lost, but content and happy.

"Joe?" Candy asked very lazily as they rode their horses slowly.

"Yeah, Candy?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask," Joe declared as he gave his friend a mischievous grin.

"Why didn't you go to college?"

Joe laughed. "Okay, I didn't expect that. Kinda figured you'd ask me who I was taking to the dance Saturday night. That new girl down at Miss Patty's dress shop is awfully sweet on me," Joe sighed at the thought. "What made you think to ask about college of all things?"

"It's fall. The leaves are turning color and the wind will be coming down from the north soon enough. Even though I didn't go all that many years, it still made me think about school starting and kids heading back to hit the books."

Candy continued. "After they finish school, some of those kids go work at the family ranch or farm. Some move to bigger cities. Some will set out on their own for whatever comes their way. Some will join the army like I did. Only a handful ever get to go to college and usually those kids are from wealthy families. Since Adam got to go, I just wondered why you and Hoss never did."

"Well, Hoss flat out said 'no way'. He hated school. All he wanted to do was work on the ranch."

"And that was that? No one pressed him any further?"

"Could you imagine pressing Hoss further on anything? No, really, he just wanted to tend to the animals. The only thing he would have been interested in would be some sort of veterinary medicine and that's pretty high falutin' for ol' Hoss," Joe grinned as he fell into his faux Southern accent. "That just ain't him. Beyond that, there was never any doubt that college wasn't for him," Joe replied.

Candy probed further. "So that brings us to you. I never met Adam, but I can't imagine him being any smarter than you. And that makes me wonder why your Pa didn't send you to college."

"Well, first of all, don't ever tell Adam that you think I'm as smart as he is," Joe chuckled. "He'd bust a blood vessel and we wouldn't want that to happen. Seriously, he's an intelligent man. But I don't think Pa's decision to send him had anything to do with intelligence."

Surprised, Candy asked, "What was it then?"

"Adam would tell you that it had to do with his general nature."

"What does that mean?"

"He saw beyond the ranch. Despite being out here since he was a boy, this wasn't home. He always wanted to be back east. You could just tell the ranch wasn't going to be his life's work. He wanted to do something far more technical than what the Ponderosa called for. He studied engineering."

"I would have thought the possibilities would be endless for an engineer here. There's construction, millwork, all sorts of things. The West is like a blank canvas," Candy pondered.

"But," Joe continued as he stared out in the distance, "it was more than that. He had the East Coast in his blood. He reckoned Boston was more civilized and most of the people were more educated - at least book learned. It's the land of Harvard and Boston College, you know."

Candy detected just a tinge of bitterness in Joe's voice. "And beyond that land was the sea. Your Pa was a sailor, right?"

"One of his many lives," Joe said as he smiled. "He was very young then. Much younger than Adam was when he set out on his own. But the sea - that's how Pa met Adam's ma. Pa went to work for Adam's grandpa on his ship."

"So that was the appeal."

"I can imagine when Pa talked about his days in Boston and at sea, it made Adam want to see what that kind of life was like. I think he called it wanderlust. In some ways I don't blame him."

"But in some ways, you do?"

Joe was quiet. "It broke Pa's heart."

Candy nodded slowly. "He still misses Adam a lot, doesn't he?"

"He will never let on to Hoss or me just how much."

Joe was getting uncomfortable talking about Adam and the impact his departure had on Pa. He sought to change the subject. "There's a nice stream over here. Let's water the horses for a bit."

Joe and Candy ambled to a small creek where they dismounted and led their horses to the clear cold water. Joe unpacked a flask from his saddle bag. As their horses cooled off, Joe and Candy found a tree to sit under. He took a quick drink of whiskey.

"To a good summer and a nice break these last few days," he toasted as he passed the flask to Candy.

"Amen," Candy nodded as he took a sip.

Joe looked off to the distance. "He always will," he said quietly.

"Huh?"

"Oh…sorry. Pa will always miss Adam. I don't think it hurt so much that he left. I think it hurt more that he never came back for a visit or wrote very often."

"Do you think he'll ever come back?"

"No. He's made his own way. The Ponderosa must seem to be a different lifetime to him now."

"So that doesn't answer my original question. Why didn't you go to college?" Candy asked. "This place is in your blood and it's where you were born and raised. I'll bet you would have returned without question."

"Adam wanted me to go. He wanted me to go to the same college he did back east. But that wasn't for me."

"There's a good college in San Francisco," Candy offered.

"I thought about that for a few minutes. I also thought about Tulane."

"Tu-what?"

"Tulane. It's becoming a well known school. Started out as a medical school, but then it became a full fledged college maybe twenty years ago."

"Where's that?"

"New Orleans."

"Ah. That's where your ma was from?"

"Yes. And for some of the same reasons Adam went to Boston, I had a curiosity, maybe even a desire, to go to New Orleans."

"Did you tell Adam or your Pa that?"

"I told Adam. He wasn't too keen on it. You see, he thought New Orleans was too rough. Too savage. Almost like being here," Joe chuckled at the thought. "Needless to say, the discussion didn't go too far."

"Did you tell your Pa?"

"I hinted at it one time. We were at home around the dinner table. I told Pa that since I was almost eighteen, I'd like to see the world a little bit and go to New Orleans. Hoss and Adam smirked, although at that point Adam knew I was thinking of college down there."

"What did he say?"

"He gave me a very sour look. Just like he ate something bad. I don't know if you realize this, but I had a bit of a penchant for trouble back then."

"Back then?"

Joe smirked. "Anyway, Pa discouraged it. Let's just leave it at that. New Orleans is a tough town, no doubt. Then, Adam jumped in about me going to college where he went in Boston. If I couldn't go to New Orleans and Tulane, then college didn't have any appeal. I really didn't want to be the legacy little brother two thousand miles away with a bunch of dandies. I love my brother, don't get me wrong. But to go where I'd be surrounded by thousands of "Adams" really made me a bit queasy." Joe winked.

"So what happened?"

"The subject was dropped. And quite frankly, if I had truly wanted to go to college, I would have pressed it further. I just didn't. I really didn't like studying. I liked "doing" and that's what I was going to do by staying at the ranch."

Joe and Candy gathered the reigns on their horses and led them away from the stream. Joe vaulted on the horse in one motion. Candy shook his head quietly at that move as he put his foot in the stirrup. It never failed to amaze him how effortlessly Joe got on his horse.

As they rode through the meadowland, they saw the mountains against the backdrop of a crystal clear day. "Really, I can't imagine either place, Boston or New Orleans, looking any better than this. Like I said, if I had really wanted to go, I would have pressed it. But why leave this?" Joe commented as he rode ahead.

Candy smiled as he watched his boss break into a gallop. A drifter for most of his life, he wondered the same thing. This place was heaven as far as he was concerned, and the Cartwrights were good men. Perhaps one day Adam would return. It might be interesting to see Joe's reaction when he did. But for now, Candy appreciated his surroundings and the good life he had.

"Why, indeed, Joe. Why, indeed," he smiled as he quickened the pace.


End file.
